DESCRIPTION: The aim is to employ epidemiological techniques to improve understanding of the clinical correlates and health outcomes related to the use of dietary supplements and define clinical consequences of their use. A long-term goal is to develop improved epidemiological methods for monitoring supplement sue and the health consequences of such use. A currently active, national cohort of elder Americans will be used to determine the prevalence of botanical use and correlates and predictors of such use. The clinical experience of a CAM program within the University of Iowa will be utilized, to define the clinical problems and issues being addresses in this setting regarding the use of botanicals. A patient-level database of hospital admissions and outpatient surgeries within the state of Iowa and a multi-state extension will be utilized to determine the reported rate of hospitalizations associated with adverse events attributed to botanicals.